Cape May County ETTC Technology Proficiency Courses

TPC4-1 Introduction to the Internet

What is the Internet?

A network of networks, linking computers to computers

--Millions of computers and computer networks of all different kinds can "talk to each other through a decentralized communications system. It is similar to an international telephone system

--A community of people and institutions who use and develop these networks.

The Internet Offers Many Services:

a) Electronic mail (email)--permits you to send & receive mail

b) Telnet or remote Login--permits you to log onto another computer and use it as though you were there.

c) FTP--allows your computer to log onto a remote computer and retrieve, view, or save to your computer

d) The World Wide Web--largest information source

e) Message Boards - places to post information and exchange ideas.

 

The World Wide Web is a tremendous collection of resources and services…

You can find information on almost any topic:

Daily editions of most leading newspapers

Stock quote services

Map services and telephone directories

Travel Information

Direct access to libraries and even entire books

Foreign language tutorials

Real time "chat rooms"

You can take tours, or attend school:

Visit Museums Take Video tours

Participate in Classes for school or college

You can buy almost anything!…A Shoppers paradise on line

It is important to remember that sites and information vary from day to day…you may find something today, but tomorrow it may be gone!

What do you need to connect to the Internet?

Computer
Modem or other connection to the Internet
Telephone connection
Software
A Local Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Your modem, in conjunction with your software, makes a local phone call to

Your ISP.  Your ISP verifies that you are a member.  Your ISP connects you to their server and provides you the connection to the Internet.

When you first sign on  the ISP will ask you to choose phone numbers that your modem will dial to get to your ISP.  You will be asked or assigned a "password" that you will use to log on

Connecting to the Internet

  1. You need to first connect to the Internet. If you are home, you may need to dial out on your modem. Many schools are connected through a special line and do not need to use a modem.
  2. Click on the Start Menu button (lower left corner of screen).
  3. Choose Program. You should see either Netscape or Internet Explorer software. FOR THIS CLASS WE WILL USE INTERNET EXPLORER.
  4. When you first open the browser, your Home Page is the screen that opens first.

How to find your way on the Web use an "address"

Each Web page has a unique address or URL - (Uniform Resource Locator)

An Example URL:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Welcome.html

File Access--the first part :// tells the type of file access that is permitted or used

by the server.

http:// means the file is of the type http or HYPERTEXT TRANSFER PROTOTCOL

(Like choosing how your mail will be transported…Federal Express, US Mail, etc.)

 

And the rest of the URL…

www. The server or host computer is located on the World Wide Web

whitehouse. Is the second level domain name

gov. Is the top level domain name

WH The directory the file will be found in on the host computer

Welcome.html the name of the file that contains the web page you are viewing

These are abbreviations used in the Domain Name System for types of institutions. More will be added soon.

com

commercial institutions

org

non-profit organizations

net

networks

mil

military

gov

government

edu

educational institutions

Sometimes, when a URL brings back an error message, record the URL only through the top level or last level domain name (ex. .com .gov .net, etc.). Many times the address will connect without the directory or file name.

The Domain Name System interfaces with IP numbers. Every computer on the Internet has an IP # to uniquely identify it on the Internet. It can be thought of like a telephone number. The DNS is translated into an IP # when we request info on the Internet.

 

Vocabulary terms and Tutorials:
  1. http://www.webopedia.com 
  2. http://www.netdictionary.com/html/index.html
  3. http://www.netlingo.com 
  4. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Glossary.html 
  5. http://freesoft.org/CIE/index.htm
  6. http://www.infotaft.marioncity.k12.oh.us/why.html
  7. http://netforbeginners.about.com/internet/netforbeginners/index.htm - Internet for Beginners about.com site

Using a Browser to Explore the Internet
  1. The small picture in the upper right hand corner of the browser, when it is animated or turning, means that your browser software is accessing data from a remote computer. The speed of the process to download these files to your computer, and then your screen, depends on your modem, your Internet Service provider's modem, how large the files are, how busy the server is, and how much traffic is on the Internet.
  2. The Address Bar or Location Bar on the upper Toolbar tells you the address or URL of the site you are viewing. What is the ETTC's web site address?
  3. There are many ways to go to a different site. You can type in the site's address directly. Click in the address bar so the address turns blue (if it does not turn blue, drag over the address so it turns blue.
  4. Type in the following address www.pics4learning.com and press the enter key.
  5. The name of the current web page will appear in the upper left corner of the blue Title bar. What is the name of this web page?
  6. Navigation Buttons can be found on the Toolbar at the top of the screen. The Back button will take you back through the last sites visited. The Forward button will allow you to retrace your original steps. Click on the Back button and then the Forward button.
  7. The Home takes you to whichever home page you've chosen. Click on the Home button.
  8. Refresh loads the web page again. Why would you want to do this? A few examples might be if all the elements of a web page haven't loaded the first time because the file was interrupted, or you need updated information for things like the Stock Market.
  9. Print lets you make a hard copy of the current document loaded in your browser.
  10. Stop does that, stops the browser from loading the current page.
  11. Stopping a Loading page: If a page is taking too long to load, it may be due to network traffic. Click the Stop button on the toolbar and click Refresh.
  12. Favorite (used in Internet Explorer) or Bookmarks (used in Netscape). A tool that allows you to save Web addresses of useful sites so you do not have to remember the address. Will work with favorites later.

OTHER WAYS TO MOVE AROUND THE INTERNET

You can type in the address directly, use the Home, Back and Forward buttons to move around the Internet. There are other methods.

Hyperlink -- A highlighted word or picture within a hypertext document that when clicked takes you to another place within the document or to another document altogether. Your mouse or pointer becomes a hand…this indicates a hyperlink.

Web Email Services

free email accounts - www.hotmail.com or www.yahoo.com (Bess blocks most free email services)

Uses of free email account

Creating Bookmarks or Favorite

Right Click the Mouse-- Choose add favorite. Make sure you are NOT pointing to a graphic or design and make sure no text is selected.

There are web sites that will collect favorites for you. We will register at one of them and you can use the service to keep track of all of the sites you find.

We will use this site - www.blink.com

Here are some other sites.

www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2403275,00.html - reviews bookmark sites

www.clickmarks.com

www.hotlinks.com

Netiquette

From DarkMountains Netiquette page "Netiquette - etiquette on the Internet Netizen - any individual (or citizen) using the internet that practices proper netiquette There are so many people on the internet today that it's commonly referred to as its own community. Unfortunately, every community needs a common set of rules to help govern the behavior of the members of that community. On the Internet, those rules are referred to as netiquette. One of the reasons the Internet is largely unregulated by laws and government is a result of responsible Netizens (like YOU) practicing proper Netiquette!

  1. library.thinkquest.org/26658 - review this list
  2. www.albion.com/netiquette - good page, take the quiz
  3. ali.apple.com/staffdev/safety/netiquette.shtml - nice review for educators
  4. www.eos.ncsu.edu/eos/info/computer_ethics/speech/netiquette/ - good list for educators
  5. www.darkmountain.com/netiquette/index.shtml - very good page, has international considerations

COPYRIGHTS

Anyone can publish information on the WWW!!! Information published on the web can be misleading & incorrect! Learn to evaluate your sites carefully. This is an excellent area to work with to help students develop critical thinking skills.

Copyright laws apply to all works in cyberspace as they do in the "real" world. The same laws protect anything you find on the WWW. Remember, if it is on the web it is copyrighted! Teachers especially need to make students aware of this and follow the suggested guidelines that are available.

Usually, it is an acceptable practice to print out one copy for you, but more than that and you must obtain permission. As an educator, you will find most authors will give you permission to use their work in class as long as you cite their information and the copyright. Most important, remind students that copying any work, any graphics, any music, etc. for presentations, student reports, web pages, etc. They must request permission and once received, cite the source and copyright.

Obviously, safety is a very important issue to discuss with students. Most schools have guidelines to follow and permission forms for teachers to send home to parents. The most important point for a student to remember…Only provide their first name, no personal e-mail addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, etc. There are URL's to visit that pertain to safety issues.

Sites to Visit for Citing Sources and Copyright Information 

Copyright & Fair Use

  1. http://www.nmjc.cc.nm.us/external/copywritebay/coprbay.htm  
  2. http://www.bham.wednet.edu/copyrght.htm 
  3. http://www.benedict.com/contents.htm 
  4. http://www.aea2.k12.ia.us/tutorials/Copyright/Copyright_.html 

Citing Sources

  1. http://www.wpunj.edu/~library/citing.htm 
  2. http://connectedteacher.classroom.com/newsletter/citeintres.asp 
  3. http://www.cyberbee.com/citing.html
  4. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html

Cookies

What are they? Are they really dangerous? Should we worry?

A small piece of data sent by web servers that store on your web browser that helps the server identify you at a later date. A password & user ID for you to become a member of a certain site would be one example. Another would be site personalization--when you visit a site and set some options of how you like to view it or what info you would like to receive from the site. It will be saved for further visits.

There has been a lot of controversy over what information users can obtain about you with cookies. Your files cannot be destroyed or compromised by cookies. When you request a file from a web server, it includes your IP address, the type of browser you are using, and your operating system. This information is already logged in on the web server's log but cookies make it easier and quicker for the server to identify you.

If you are concerned about cookies set the options on your Browser to warn you when cookies are being sent. Do not give your correct email address on visited sites, this is a wise safety measure.

Visit these sites, they will define & explain cookies further…you need to evaluate the problem and make your own decisions!

  1. familyinternet.about.com/library/weekly/aa042500a.htm - Are Internet Cookies Good or Bad
  2. cookiecentral.com 
  3. www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html 
  4. netsecurity.about.com/library/weekly/aa091200c.htm - Cookie Be Gone, a list of cookie managers

SPAM - JUNK MAIL

Spam is unsolicited e-mail that is mailed in bulk. If you have inquired about specific offers, participated in a newsgroup or chat room, placed a classified ad…you open yourself to SPAM. There are sites that sell the e-mail addresses to mailing lists and there are bulk e-mailers who send out different versions of email addresses to any service provider.

Do not follow the directions on the e-mail to remove your name from the mailing list…this will only affirm that your e-mail address is valid or it will be returned to you as an invalid e-mail. Most providers have set up special addresses to receive these abuses of e-mail. You need to forward the e-mail to them. Contact your service provider and inquirer about their spamming policies and what you can do about it.

  1. www.ecofuture.org/~felbel/jmemail.html 
  2. www.junkbusters.com - good site
  3. email.about.com/internet/email/cs/spamgeneral/index.htm - good list of links

Virus

A computer code written to cause damage to your computer system. These can be hidden on software programs and on files posted on line. You cannot get most viruses from reading email-- normally you will activate a virus only if you download and open/execute an attached file.

Sites to visit on computer virus myths & hoaxes: (some take awhile to load)
  1. www.synamtec.com - Norton Antivirus software home page
  2. www.mcaffee.com - McAffee antivirus software home page
  3. www.kumite.com/myths/home.htm 
  4. hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
  5. urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/mbody.htm 
  6. truthorfiction.com - has a computer section
  7. www.snopes2.com - Urban Legends reference page, has computer section

thanks to www.grsites.com for the graphics
last modified June 12, 2002